Latest California Healthline Stories
Lifeguard Officials Announce Company Will Cease Operations on Dec. 31
As expected, officials from the San Jose-based HMO Lifeguard yesterday announced that the insurer will halt operations on Dec. 31, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Davis Should Sign Bill To Allow Sales of Needles Without a Prescription, HIV/AIDS Experts Say
Gov. Gray Davis (D) should sign a bill (SB 1785) passed by the Legislature earlier this year that would allow licensed pharmacies to sell as many as 30 syringes without a prescription to reduce rates of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, John Perez and Philip Burgess, members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, write in an Orange County Register opinion piece.
Low-Scoring HMOs Less Likely To Report Subsequent NCQA Quality Results, Study Finds
HMOs that receive poor scores on the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s annual “report card” are at least three times more likely to withdraw their scores from public disclosure the following year, potentially misleading the public’s perception of HMO quality, according to a new study.
Los Angeles County Officials Approve 25% Reduction in Subsidies for Private Health Clinics
Los Angeles County officials yesterday approved a 25% or $12.5 million reduction in funds for the county’s “public-private partnership” program — which provides subsidies to private health clinics — in a “further fraying of a ‘safety-net’ health system that is supposed to serve the poor and uninsured,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Bush To Nominate White House Health Adviser McClellan as FDA Commissioner
President Bush plans to nominate Mark McClellan, a senior White House health policy adviser, to serve as commissioner of the FDA, according to administration officials, the New York Times reports.
White House Criticizes New California Embryonic Stem Cell Research Law
The White House yesterday “took issue” with a new California law (SB 253) that supports embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning, despite efforts by the Bush administration to limit or prohibit the practices, the Los Angeles Times reports.
CDC Officials Unveil ‘Blueprint’ for Mass Smallpox Vaccinations
As expected, the CDC yesterday released a “logistical blueprint on how to conduct a mass vaccination” of people living in the United States in the event of a terrorist attack using smallpox, USA Today reports.
Davis Signs Legislation To Provide Paid Family Leave for Employees
As expected, Gov. Gray Davis (D) yesterday signed the nation’s first comprehensive paid family leave bill (SB 1661), under which employees can receive disability pay to allow them to care for a family member with an illness or to spend time with a newborn, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Shifting Health Care Costs to Employees ‘Does Little’ To Address Larger Cost Issues
Many U.S. employers plan to shift most of the “substantial increases” in their health insurance costs next year “directly on the backs of workers,” but the “cost-shifting strategies do little” to address the problem of increased health care costs, according to a USA Today editorial.
Washington Times Looks at Impact of Undocumented Immigrants on Border Hospitals
The Washington Times today examines the impact undocumented immigrants have on hospitals along the U.S.-Mexican border in the second of a five-part series on immigration.